The hope of Senator Aishatu Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of becoming the first female governor of a state in Northern Nigeria was put on hold, Monday, as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Adamawa State inconclusive.
The INEC collation officer for Zamfara State, Prof. Muhammadu Mele, Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, declared the vote inconclusive citing the margin of votes between the APC and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidates.
According to INEC, Senator Aishatu Dahiru scored 390, 275 votes while the incumbent, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, of PDP polled 421,524.
But in declaring the vote inconclusive, Prof Muhammadu Mele disclosed that: “Elections were not held in 47 wards, affecting 69 polling units. So, this gives us a margin of 31,249. The total number of PVCs collected in places where elections were not held amounted to 37,016.”
Mele, therefore, concluded that “based on these findings and analysis as stated in the electoral laws” where the margin between two candidates is lesser than the total number of collected PVCs in areas where elections were not held, the election is declared inconclusive.
As at Monday night, results of governorship polls in 21 states have been announced, leaving seven outstanding. And should Binani eventually triumph, she would not only have added to the swelling statistics of states that recorded huge upsets in the March 18 election, she would also have shattered the myth that a female can never emerge as the Chief Executive of a State in any part of Northern Nigeria owing to some cultural and religious beliefs.